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[BAM]Malaysia in danger of missing Thomas Cup Finals

There is a growing fear that Malaysia may suffer the humiliation of not qualifying for the Thomas Cup Finals for the first time ever.

The defeat of the country’s top men’s doubles pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong by Taiwanese Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu in the Korean Open on Thursday certainly does not offer much optimism. Given the duo’s wretched form, Malaysia can only count on Lee Chong Wei for the Thomas Cup qualifiers in Macau from Feb 13-19.

Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong’s winless run is certain proof that the beleaguered pair cannot be depended on for a point. To make matters worse, the inconsistency of the back-up players has further dimmed Malaysia’s prospect of making the cut for the 12-team Finals.

Without much depth in the team, a big question mark has been raised whether Malaysia can win one of the four tickets available in the qualifying tournament.

China are assured of a berth by virtue of being the defending champion and hosts of the Finals, which will be held in Wuhan from May 20-27. The other tickets for the Finals go to Europe (four), Oceania (1), Africa (1) and Pan-America (1).

In the battle among the Asian teams, it is clear that South Korea, Indonesia and Japan have better depth than Malaysia. This means Malaysia will have to fight with Taiwan, Hong Kong and India for the last spot.

A desperate Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have indicated that they are willing to open up the selection to non-BAM players to come up with the best possible team.

BAM general manager Kenny Goh said: “All the national singles and doubles coaches have been instructed to select the best players for the qualifying tournament in Macau. We are even willing to open the selection to players who are not part of the BAM set-up.”

“BAM will be sending the best team for the qualifiers. It does not matter whether the players are in or out of the BAM set-up. The coaches have been asked to pick the best players available. They may even want one of the doubles players for the singles if they show the potential,” said Kenny.

“We are confident that the team will qualify for the Finals and, as usual, we are looking at every aspect to ensure that we only send the best to the competition,” he added.

For most of the players vying for the spot – both the back-up and former internationals – the Maybank Malaysia Open, which starts on Tuesday with the qualifying tournament at Putra Stadium, will be the final platform to impress the national coaches.

This will certainly raise the standard of the competition in this year’s home tournament.

All countries have to acknowledge their interest to compete in the qualifiers to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) by Jan 10. They must name their 10-man squads by Jan 24.

At for the Uber Cup Finals, which will also be held in Wuhan, the weakened national women’s team can virtually forget about winning one of three tickets up for grabs.

KG (1 of 3 stooges) 'willing to open selection to non-BAM players' NOW...that is desperation at the utmost to save their skin to avoid a 1st time exit from TC finals after all, the 3 stooges have been running this ship to the ground and abusing their powers when it came to selecting players to WC11. Other countries can blame lacking funds, not BAM for sure and what to show for - 1 lone 29-yr old world class MS player and that is about it folks. And still business as usual, tidak apa attitude...Malaysian badminton is so screwed by these 3 clowns and the circus continues....amazing.

A desperate Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have indicated that they are willing to open up the selection to non-BAM players to come up with the best possible team.

BAM general manager Kenny Goh said: “All the national singles and doubles coaches have been instructed to select the best players for the qualifying tournament in Macau. We are even willing to open the selection to players who are not part of the BAM set-up.”This means non-BAM players like Wong Choong Hann, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming, Zulfadli Zulkifli, Gan Teik Chai, Tan Bin Shen, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari could make the squad for badminton’s most prestigious team event.

“BAM will be sending the best team for the qualifiers. It does not matter whether the players are in or out of the BAM set-up. The coaches have been asked to pick the best players available. They may even want one of the doubles players for the singles if they show the potential,” said Kenny.

“We are confident that the team will qualify for the Finals and, as usual, we are looking at every aspect to ensure that we only send the best to the competition,” he added.

For most of the players vying for the spot – both the back-up and former internationals – the Maybank Malaysia Open, which starts on Tuesday with the qualifying tournament at Putra Stadium, will be the final platform to impress the national coaches.

This will certainly raise the standard of the competition in this year’s home tournament.

Courtesy of The Star

I hope Chris has read this post, especially the highlighted text. He has been trying to accuse BAM of discriminating against the independent players, which is not true.

I hope Chris has read this post, especially the highlighted text. He has been trying to accuse BAM of discriminating against the independent players, which is not true.

Loh, that is not my interpretation of the highlighted sentence. In fact, it confirms that they have not been willing to accept independent players in the past and only now consider them because of desperation.

Loh, that is not my interpretation of the highlighted sentence. In fact, it confirms that they have not been willing to accept independent players in the past and only now consider them because of desperation.

You may be right, but the fact that BAM is now willing to consider independent players is a move in the right direction and this will stop those who said that BAM is biased. If you look at the independent players as listed (except ZZ), most if not all of them were from the BAM stable before.

You may be right, but the fact that BAM is now willing to consider independent players is a move in the right direction and this will stop those who said that BAM is biased. If you look at the independent players as listed (except ZZ), most if not all of them were from the BAM stable before.

Yes. Considering independent players is a move in the right direction.

Does that mean BAM will have less bias in the future? Sorry, that remains to be proven.

I am watching the SEA games in 2011. Badminton of course.
Malaysia only sending their amateur squad for team event. Meanwhile, both Thailand and Indonesia sending their full squad.
Amazingly, Malaysia qualified for the final round of team event against Indonesia. I don't remember the result of the final. What can you deduce from that?

see? or anyone think suddenly koo/tan found their form?
hafiz yoyo up?
goh/lim play their best game ever?
liew daren suddenly wake up?
how high the probability all the thing above will happen togather?0.000001?

Yes. Considering independent players is a move in the right direction.

Does that mean BAM will have less bias in the future? Sorry, that remains to be proven.

To be fair to BAM we should applaud them for making this first 'liberalisation' move.
The future is difficult to predict and it has to depend on circumstances then prevailing. But let's hope MAS will always be represented by the best available players.